


Oh Kell of Mine

by VittiRayne



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Exos | Exominds, Fallen | Eliksni Guardian (Destiny), Hunter - Freeform, Other, Titans, awoken - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:33:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29770035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VittiRayne/pseuds/VittiRayne
Summary: Mira-3 can't seem to catch a break and Rio isn't helping, especially now that she knows she can't trust him. But having to face down the crime lord known as the Spider on her own, then go back into the frozen wastes of Europa with Rio to unravel a plot from the remnants of House Salvation, the Exo Hunter will realize the trouble with most Kell...They want you dead.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [Disclaimer: Destiny and any canon characters mentioned within are Copyright © Bungie, Inc. All Right Reserved. This fan publication is Copyright © 2021 by Vittoria St Martin. No portion of this fanfiction work, including the original characters and their monikers within, may be used or reproduced in any form whatsoever without written permission from Vittoria St Martin. For requests please contact Vittoria St Martin.]

**Chapter One: Waiting on the Reef**

"He's late, again."

"He's always late, Guardian."

A small metallic sigh huffed from the harrowing figure standing on the edge of the asteroid rock as the glowing, cycloptic eye of her Holdfast mask gazed out into the brilliant nebula beyond. Shrouded completely in her purple Empyrean cloak, the horns atop her cowl standing out against the strange atmosphere of the Tangled Shore, Mira-3 stood there waiting, her image like that of some hellish devil, poised and watchful. The sounds of Guardians transmatting in behind her went unnoticed by the Hunter as they, in kind, paid her no attention swiftly running off, or summoning a sparrow to speed towards an unknown destination. The Exo frowned behind her mask; it seemed everyone had a destination these days but her. A deep purring sensation suddenly reached her ears, and Mira perked up as she felt something nuzzle against her neck.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be along soon, Guardian, or maybe he's already here fooling around somewhere?"

The Hunter relaxed and could almost feel her Ghost's reticle looking up at her from where he nestled within her hood.

"Perhaps you're right, Murdock." she mused, nuzzling his shell with the side of her head, causing him to purr louder. "Let's go see if we can find what that Rat is up to?"

Turning on her heel, the Hunter's purple cape fluttered around her as she made for the entrance to the Spider's Lair.

Truth be told, the stronghold of the Tangled Shore's Baron was indeed everything that Mira-3 had imagined it would be from all the stories that she had been told, and dirtier. There was an ominous pressure in the gloomy lit hallways leading to the large Eliksni's inner sanctum that had nothing to do with the incessant rattling of the massive ether pipes. In a place where deals were made, goods were exchanged, and in many cases lives hung in the balance, the energy of that clung to the very walls. Pausing for a moment as she descended a staircase to look around, the Hunter took a moment to ensure she was alone and carefully lifted her mask, then sniffed.

A strange scent hung in the air, one the Exo was not familiar with, and one she allowed to drift into her olfactory sensors simply for the curiosity of sampling it. There were the usual smells of damp, grime, rust from the pipes and metals, and the unmistakable stench of ether. However the strange smell Mira focused on had the same base that came with being near a den of Eliksni yet something else was intermingled with it, like decadent cologne, and something Mira knew the smell of all too well.

The smell of fear.

The Exo secured her helmet, yellowish light flashing across the lens of her Holdfast Mask, and proceeded deeper into the Sanctum.

Voices drifted up from a large chamber ahead, one heavily guarded by Eliksni wearing what Mira thought to be the most ridiculous amount of spiked armor she had ever seen on any one set of creatures in her lifetime. Yet, there the Dreg's stood with staves tipped with electrified blades, but fortunately, the guards had not noticed her quiet approach. Instead their gaze was focused on the individuals, a pair of Warlocks, standing in the center of the room, speaking to something up on the back wall. The Hunter tip-toed closer and listened, immediately passing their conversation off as they discussed some kind of bounty.

Then she heard it.

As she neared the entrance to the chamber, the sound of Rio's voice came filtering out from a side corridor just to the left. Mira paused weighing her options. She could pull out her Ghost and ask him to relay a transmission to Rio, but the thought of exposing Murdock here was out of the question. Or, she could simply walk in as if she was meant to be here. Her gaze drifted back towards the Warlocks still discussing amongst themselves; if Guardians were allowed to come and go as they pleased, and Rio was allowed to go into that hallway, certainly Mira could also?

"No matter what happens, Murdock, you stay hidden." she whispered over her shoulder.

Deciding to take her chances, Mira-3 stood up, pulled her cloak tight around herself and walked into the chamber.

The guards took notice of her immediately when she entered, the plethora of beady dots that served as eyes in their helmets locking onto her as the light of the chamber fell upon her graceful form. The Hunter forced herself to take careful, purposeful movements as she turned and headed for the hallway to the left, focusing solely on her destination. The Warlocks suddenly stopped talking and Mira heard them turn in her direction, but she kept walking; she was almost to the hallway. Each step she took seemed to echo in her ears, her senses were hyper focused; just a little further.

Then a set of staves criss crossed her path, the arc infused blades crackling as a set of guards rushed up on either side of her, and the Hunter froze mid-step.

There was a deep, echoing pull from an ether rebreather then a terrible voice filled the chamber:

"And just where do you think you are going, Little Hunter?"

**_[To be Continued...]_ **


	2. The Spider's Lair

It wasn't everyday that Mira-3 found arc-blades in her face, but when the Spider's guards suddenly shifted them towards her head she quickly danced backwards away from them. Yet she kept her cloak drawn around herself and made no defensive or aggressive movements as the cycloptic eye of her mask quickly whirled to survey the room. The Hunter noted the other guards grasping their weapons, the Warlocks staring at her in confusion, and-

Mira-3 stiffened where she stood; the stories she'd heard had not prepared her for the actual magnificent sight of the Spider himself, nor the paralyzing gaze of his glowing eyes. The malicious cunning in each of the Eliksni's shimmering blue eyes seemed to drink her in, as if studying her every detail, and inwardly Mira revolted under their piercing analysis of her. Yet, for some reason, she could do nothing but stand there, frozen, gazing back at them. It was only when Spider turned his gaze away from her to the two Warlocks that this spell he had over seemed to break, and Mira felt herself able to relax.

"You may go." the words more a command than a missive as the massive Kell waved a hand at the other Guardians. "I have other business to attend to."

The Warlocks glanced between each other, then at Mira, then left quickly without a word. Beneath her cloak Mira felt her fingers drift over the handle of her Ace as she straightened up, when the Spider looked back at her once more. Again Mira became like a statue, rooted in place under his gaze. Spider carefully folded his set of lower arms across his massive bulk, the fingers of one upper hand clicking the Shell of a long dead Ghost together, as he beckoned to her with the other.

"Come closer, Guardian, step into the light...let me get a better look at you."

There was a hunger in his voice that sent a shiver down Mira-3's synthetic spine, but as she heard the guards behind her step closer, her hand fell away from her pistol. Fighting was not an ideal course of action. The next thing Mira-3 knew, she was in motion, autonomously doing as she was instructed; the Spider's words revolting as they were, compelled her forward. She listened to him breathe deeply from his respirator as he watched her walk and step into the large pool of light just before his chair. Never before had Mira-3 felt so exposed as she stopped and slowly turned to face the massive Kell, but as she did, her unease began to turn to curiosity and she forced herself to gaze back up at him.

"It is a common courtesy that any Guardian who comes into my chamber announce themselves, but _you_...seem to have other intentions." the Spider leered at her, as he leaned forward slowly in his seat, the vessel creaking ominously beneath him. "I dislike those who lack common courtesy."

A rustling of armor told Mira-3 that the guards had moved to block the exit and were closing in around her; she shifted slightly on her feet to take a darting glance at them beneath her mask.

"If you have anything to say at all, Guardian, now would be the time to speak up." Spider glowered sinisterly.

Taking a deep breath, that force of habit again, Mira-3 stared up into the face of deadly Kell.

"Forgive me, Great Baron, it was never my intention to be discourteous, as I would never be so presumptuous as to interrupt you." Mira replied politely with a deep incline of her head. "As for my intentions, I thought that Rio would have made them, and myself, known to you, as it was he who invited me into your halls."

A flash of realization crossed Spider's eyes as he carefully leaned back in his chair, yet his piercing gaze remained focused on her.

"Ah yes," the oafish Kell mused. "The Rat who thinks himself a Hawk among your kind, and you must be his 'tin can', am I correct?"

Mira tried her best to not let the scowl on her face show in her words:

"Mira, if you please, and I trust you were pleased with the results of the supplies we recovered for you? As that is what I am here to coll-"

"Yes, Rio has told me a lot about you, Guardian." Spider cut her off, fiddling the dead Ghost Shell between his upper hands. "Yet, he failed to mention your...affluent way with words. The shipment's return was barely satisfactory. You lost a crate; and that crate cost me a lot."

His last set of words were a sharp accusation that held the weight of a falling hammer, yet Mira forced herself not to flinch at them and remained quiet. Rio had already negotiated the close of the bounty, and their cut from Spider, she needed to say nothing. However, the Exo marvelled at how clear and viciously the Eliksni spoke every word, it made her wonder how he spoke his own language. The four glittering eyes of the Spider watched her with an ancient cunning for a reaction, as he continued to work the shell in his fingers. When the Guardian gave no response, he did.

"Take off your helmet, Mira. I want to see if everything else Rio told me...is true."

For a moment, the Hunter hesitated. She had been able to carefully hide the fact that she was still armed with a weapon behind her cloak, but more importantly Mira had been able to maintain a careful game of cat and mouse of emotions with the Spider by hiding them behind her helmet. Yet a spark of recognition alighted in her mind as she realized that must have been the reason why he now wanted her to remove it. Despite that most Exo's had near expressionless faces, and Mira was certainly no exception, their eyes were the focal point through which they displayed emotion. If the Spider could see her eyes, he would better be able to read her.

 _Damn_. But then the Exo expected nothing less from a Kell as old as him.

Carefully, Mira-3 drew back her purple Empyrean cloak to reveal the white, black and gold accented Siegebreaker armor beneath. She made sure to keep her hands away from the gold and black Ace of Spades holstered at her hip as she reached up and pulled back her hood. Undoing the clasps, the Hunter lifted her Holdfast Mask off her head and tucked it carefully beneath one arm. Instantly that strange smell came wafting back to her senses, only more pungent this time as her glowing orange eyes rose to meet the Spider once more.

The spider sucked in a deep gout of ether from his respirator as his eyes drank in every detail of Mira-3's Exo face. Mira thought that she would be used to being looked at like an oddity by now, yet it seemed all the more uncomfortable to have this massive alien creature's eyes pouring over her. No doubt her teal colored skin shimmered in the harsh light above her, and she imagined the twin horns atop her head carried a nice glint at their peaks. Her face, so near like to a skull it could hardly be called attractive, especially with the hellishly bright, orange orbs within the black sockets that served for her eyes. For a moment, Mira-3 couldn't decide in her mind which of them, the alien Spider or her Exo self, was the abnormal one in this situation. Yet the thought helped her keep a straight face, and it made her feel a little bold.

"Am I true to all the tall tales of the Rat, Spider?" Mira asked mirthfully. "Or has he told you as many lies as he's told me?"

A deep chuckle echoed from the barreled core that was the Spider as he leaned back farther into his chair, lifting the dead Ghost up and clasping it sharply in his hand almost triumphantly.

"A terrible liar, a rather successful thief, and quite useful to me, that Rat." the Kell chuckled, then pointed a clawed hand in her direction. "I have seen many an Exo saunter into my halls but you...you are different, Mira. Those eyes you have...are something special."

Mira tried to keep her face expressionless, yet her mind raced. What had she given away?

"You and I both know that thus far, the best work you have done for me, was to get rid of that bastard Titan, Krieg." Spider dropped his arms and leaned forward.

Mira stayed quiet but felt a strange tightening sensation begin to form in her throat as the Spider became enshadowed as he pitched closer.

"He tore up half my Shore, disrupted a quarter of my shipping routes, trying to find _you_."

A heart sinking sensation filled Mira's chest and the lump in her throat only grew worse as she stared up at the Spider, his piercing, blue eyes seeming to bore into her skull.

"It's a shame I couldn't have been there to see you put that bullet in his brain myself, but at least you and Rio were kind enough to leave me something to remember that filthy Dredgen by."

A jolt raced through Mira where she stood and for a moment her eyes became unfocused; Krieg had been a Dredgen?!

Spider pushed himself back into his seat, lifting one of his upper arms, and something about it drew Mira's eyes back into clarity. As each of her glowing orange orbs landed on the Ghost in his clawed fingers, they widened in the dark sockets of her face as she realized it was no longer the bland, white Shell that had been there before. Clutched in the Spider's grasp, was Krin, the Ghost of the Titan that had tried to kill her. The tiny Light's Shell had been horribly mangled, pieces of it were missing, and the glowing optic within pulsated dimly, like the heartbeat of a dying man.

A hard expression fell across Mira's face as she swallowed down the lump in her throat, feeling the fingers of her free hand start to curl, the fingertips caressing the grip of the handcannon at her hip. The Guardian could feel the surge of Light and Dark roiling inside her as her emotions rose to the surface, threatening to boil over, seeing what the Spider had done to Krin. Then the sound of Spider drawing another breath from his respirator forced her eyes to shift from the ruined Ghost, and the Exo froze at the sheer insatiable hunger burning in the eyes of the Eliksni above her. True to his name, the Spider sat there, patiently waiting, like a predator to spring and Mira-3 realized suddenly that she was the fly caught in his web.

This was a trap.

Instantly, her fingers snapped open and fell away from the Ace of Spades. The Exo forced herself to relax, bringing her hand around to rest atop the arm that held her helmet. Inhaling and exhaling, Mira-3 lowered her eyes away from the Spider, each glowing orb seeming to slowly rove over the details of the elaborate seat that held him aloft.

"It is a shame, Great Spider...such a shame..." Mira-3 agreed somberly. "Here I stood thinking I bore the reputation of having killed a Dredgen _and_ his Ghost, but it seems that is not the case. I dislike those that cheat me out of what's mine."

The Exo's eyes seemed to burn like angry embers within her head as she looked back up at the Spider, yet he gazed back into them with matched hunger.

"Then perhaps, you'd like to make a deal for what you think is yours, Guardian?" he sneered clicking Krin's Shell between his fingers as he forced them to rotate in his hand.

"Forgive me, Spider, but I don't make deals for damaged goods. That Ghost is now a lost cause." Mira glowered, rolling her shoulders back. "Now if you will kindly allow me to see Rio and give me the reward for the bounty that I'm owed, I will take my leave."

Light flashed in the Spider's eyes as he took another pull from his respirator then sat up straighter in his chair, and Mira braced herself.

Then someone cleared their throat, loudly.

"Hey is someone using my name in vain out here?"

Mira-3's head snapped towards the sound of the familiar voice to see none other than Rio Oshi-Ii himself standing on the left side of the chamber at the mouth of the corridor she had attempted to sneak off into sometime earlier. The fellow Hunter stood there in his dark Iron Will armor, the crimson Neoteric Kiyot Cloak hanging from his shoulders, the fur at his neck rustling as he ducked swiftly underneath the guard's staves. A bright smile spread across his tanned, boyish face, bright blue eyes twinkling beneath his tightly braided, blonde hair as he quickly approached her with his arms wide.

"Hey, Mira, my girl, lookit you talking it up with the big boss!" he smiled as he threw his arm around her shoulders, then looked up at Spider. "Spider I apologize in advance if my student here has given you any trouble, you know how stiff these old Exo's can be, eh?"

Rio gave her shoulder a gentle shake, or at least tried to, and Mira did her best to hide the frown on her face as she glared at him. Her jaws parted about to reply when something behind him caught her eyes. Another figure standing in the opening of the corridor Rio had come from. An Awoken man just in the shadows of the hallway, dressed in the garb of a Hunter, but with Spider's sigil splayed across his chest. Yet as Mira's glowing eyes wandered across his face as sudden, stark realization burst to life inside her Exo brain and her face became the image of shock and horror.

"Rio!" Mira shuddered, starting to lift a hand. " _That is_ -"

But she never finished the sentence as Rio punched her so hard in the ribs, a loud crack echoed throughout the chamber. The Exo nearly doubled over, grunting sharply as her helmet nearly slipped from her grasp and Rio swiftly moved to help keep her up on her feet. A ragged, metallic cough echoed from Mira-3's chest, as she struggled to breathe leaning heavily against Rio.

"Yes, that is someone I was just talking to, good perception, my student!" Rio laughed nervously. "And now I think it's time we left. Thank you, Spider for everything, just send the reward stocks to me and I'll make sure Mira gets it."

Sucking in air and wheezing, Mira didn't resist as Rio began dragging her towards the exit, and the Spider watching them go, a look of humor in his eyes as they shuffled on. He waved a hand and the guards stepped aside allowing them to stumble out, Mira clutching onto her side as Rio dragged her down the hallway. A thousand questions flooded Mira's brain in that moment, but one superseded every query that raced through her skull:

_Why had Uldren's eyes looked so sad?_

**_[To be continued...]_ **


	3. Parting is Not Sweet Sorrow

"What in the hell were you thinking Mira?! Were you trying to get us both killed back there?!"

"I...what?"

The Exo's emberous eyes winked on and off in genuine confusion as she blinked through the pain radiating from the left side of her chest; however both of Rio's hands clenched tightly around the cloak at her shoulders pulling her back and thumping her against the wall again brought some clarity to mind.

"All you had to do was wait outside and you couldn't even manage that!" Rio snarled, then he looked her over. "What did you tell Spider? What did he tell you? Did you make a deal with him! And when did you get this purple cape?"

Mira-3 grunted loudly then hissed in pain as her broken rib was jolted against the hard wall behind her, and she held onto her side as the fingers of her free hand fell to her side.

"Ah," she took a hard breath in. "There's that smell again."

"Fethin smell- HEY!" Rio's dark face scrunched in anger and his blue eyes narrowed on her, "Are you listenin' to me, Tin Can!? Huh? Pay attention to me when I'm talking to you!"

"It's the smell of fear."

Rio tensed as Mira-3's burning eyes locked onto his own, her hand shot up to suddenly take hold of the crimson cloak around his neck and he felt something hard press against his armor.

The Exo pulled back the hammer on the Ace of Spades, "I've been paying attention, Rio, but have you?"

Then she pulled the trigger.

Rio's mouth had been open in an attempt to speak, probably something manipulative, but whatever words had been there now came out in a sharp gasp as the bullet from the hand cannon tore through him. Mira-3 went with him down to the floor as his knees buckled beneath him and the shot echoed through the small alcove they were in. No doubt Rio had dragged her here for a private chat and the shot, while loud, hadn't been noticed by anyone, which was just as well. As Rio's back settled to the floor, Mira rested her knee atop the wound causing Rio to mutedly shriek in agony as she made herself comfortable atop him. He hurriedly tried to reach for his own weapon, but she quickly placed her Ace against the hollow of his throat.

"I wouldn't try it, Rio." the Exo glowered. "Hands up, where I can see them."

She tapped the barrel against his chin for emphasis and Rio quickly complied pulling his gloved hands up to the sides of his head, his breathing starting to labor a bit. Mira reached for his side and unholstered the weapon at her fellow Hunter's hip to study it for a moment. A custom Dire Promise with what looked like the Drifter's seal stamped on the side, no doubt Rio had stolen it. Mira huffed and tossed it off into the shadows of the alcove, then went for his knives, but winced herself, reminded of her broken rib.

"Murdock, I need you." she breathed, slowly unsheathing the knives from Rio's belt and hurling them away.

In a burst of light, her Ghost's white and golden Arch shell morphed into life just over her shoulder, his shell twisting and peeling apart as he beamed rays of pure light over her form to heal her.

"Y-you shot me!" Rio gasped, staring up at her. "I- I'm dying!"

Breathing easier as Murdock finished fixing her rib then vanished from sight, Mira pulled her hand cannon away from Rio's head and rested it atop her thigh as she regarded him.

"If my angle was precise, the bullet should have nicked only so many of your vital organs, but shattered your spine on the way out to keep your legs from wiggling, and judging by the spattering on your cape, it did go through." she noted, her glowing eyes darting to a darker spot on his crimson cape." And like I said, so long as I keep pressure on your wound here, it should minimize your internal bleeding long enough for us to have a chat before you become unconscious."

A smirk crossed the Exo's teal, skull-like face as she leaned onto his wound and Rio writhed beneath her, gritting his teeth in agony.

"Okay -okay I get it!" he hissed. "You pissed. So...Spider told you everything, yea?"

"I already knew, Rio. I'm not dumb. Thirteen rounds in this gun, and when I got back to my ship, only twelve were left in it." Mira replied, lifting the Ace of Spades in her hand, then dropping it back down. "Spider only confirmed my suspicions by showing me Krin's Shell, but I must admit I was surprised to find out Krieg was a Dredgen. Woulda been nice and friendly of you to let me know a Dredgen was coming for my ass!"

Her eyes blazed as she knelt harder on his wound feeling it squish beneath her knee and Rio stifled a cry.

"Mira stop! I-I can explain-"

"Oh I know why you hid it all from me, Rio, why you always hide things from me. I've known you long enough to understand what makes you tick. How you like to play the bad boy, to be in control, the one with the plan, while I'm the one left out in the cold, waiting. You sold me out, you lied to me, for another chance at the game." she explained angrily, then her tone grew harsh. "But what if I hadn't made it this time, Rio? What if Krieg had killed me? Would you have sold Krin _and_ Murdock off to Spider for a better deal? Or would you have simply watched as that Dredgen killed us both?"

Mira paused, glaring daggers down at him, and Rio's eyes fell away from her face, "Mira, I would never-"

"Shut Up." the Exo hissed quietly. "You can't even look me in the eyes anymore when you lie to me."

The pain and betrayal was clear in the glowing orbs of Mira's eyes as she stared hard down at Rio Oshi-Ii, and as she stared into his human face, into the reflection of his bright blue eyes, she saw the pain reflected back at her.

"I trusted you, Rio...like I had trusted no one else..."

Then the Exo's face hardened and twisted into something almost nightmarish.

"And now I find that you have somehow been working with the Spider to hide that Uldren S-"

"DON'T SAY THAT NAME!"

Mira actually flinched at how vehemently Rio was able to scream up at her, despite how he started to squirm beneath her in pain as a result of his cry, sweat starting to form on his brow from the sheer effort he put forth.

"You don't say, breathe, or even _think_ that name on the Tangled Shore, or else Spider will have us both gutted like fish, our Ghosts strung up on Dawning Lights, and sell your parts to the highest bidder - IF he doesn't decide to use your head as a puppet or a door knocker!" Rio hissed furiously before falling into an agonizing fit of panting.

Mira's face scrunched in absolute curiosity, "Why?"

"Because he doesn't know who he is! And Spider has ordered that he _never_ know or find out, and anyone who tells him, is a dead man walking!" Rio strained, his tanned face starting to go pale as he paused to take a few heaving breaths. "His name...is Crow now..."

The glowing orbs inside Mira's bleak eye sockets darted furiously back and forth as her mind raced:

"He's using him...like a pet..." she murmured.

Rio moaned terribly, drawing her attention back to him, "Are you gonna just...watch me die slowly, or could you make this quick?"

"I'm not killing you, Rio, I'm leaving you." Mira stated.

Twirling the Ace on her finger, the Exo Hunter holstered the pistol at her hip and then stood up off of the other Guardian. A spurt of blood came instantly pouring out of the gunshot wound and splattered onto his armor the moment her knee left him, and Rio gasped as a new sensation of life essence leaving him raced through his core. His hands instantly went to press down on the wound as Mira turned on her heel to leave, her purple Empyrean cape snapping behind her as she went.

"And my cape is purple, because I heard the Spider likes purple." she called over her shoulder, summoning a Holdfast Mask to her hands. "I thought wearing it might help me gain a bit of favor. I think I should have stuck with teal, he seemed to like my face a lot more."

Behind her, Rio had rolled over onto his side, clutching his wound raggedly trying to breathe as Selene, his Ghost, hovered over him furiously bathing him in light to heal him. The Exo could almost feel his eyes on her as she walked out of the alcove and turned down the metal corridor interlaced with ether pipes, and stepped out of his sight. Rio watched her go, a look of pain and angst intermingled on his face before settling onto the floor, then angrily slapping a hand against the ground.

"I told you this would happen, Guardian, you are lucky she spared you." Selene spoke up, her shell clicking as she worried over him.

"Shuttup!" Rio snarled. "Just get me up! I need to think..."

Dusting off the top of her helm, Mira-3 couldn't help but feel as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, but a hint of sorrow still lingered in her somewhere. One doesn't give up on someone they've spent years of time and effort with and not feel something. Yet, with a 'friend' like Rio, Mira didn't need enemies, and it was only logical at this point to cut him off before he threw her fully under some bus she couldn't survive getting run over by. Lost in her thoughts, the Exo Hunter was about to put her mask back on when she turned a corner at the exit of Spider's Lair and nearly ran into someone. Stopping short and taking a step back, Mira caught herself before she actually collided with them and looked up.

"Excuse me," she said quickly. "I didn't see y-"

Mira froze, the orbs of her eyes grew wide, and the mask in her hands suddenly slipped from her fingers.

Graceful fingers swiftly grasped her helmet before it struck the ground, and the figure before her stood back up to his full height.

"Oh that was close!" he gave a short, nervous laugh, his glittering Awoken eyes roving from the mask to her face. "I apologize if I startled you, but I believe I have something that you are owed?"

Something inside Mira-3's chest skipped a beat as she stared into the pale blue face beneath the cowl of the Hunter standing before her, knowing she was looking at the face of the man who had killed Cayde-6.

"Yes," the Exo said slowly, as her glowing eyes narrowed. "Yes I believe you do..." 

_**[To be continued...]** _


	4. Something Owed

Mira-3 never quite thought of herself as some epic savior despite being a Guardian, nor did she share some sense of cosmic duty now that she wielded both the Light and the Darkness. She didn't think she was special either. If anything Mira-3 viewed herself as an above average, clever, and resourceful Hunter in a sea of all the other demi-godlike beings that were Guardians. Contrastingly, it never bothered her when she heard about the amazing exploits of other Guardians who's feats seemed to overshadow her own, as that was simply what Guardians did: heroically epic or infamously terrible things. It was their nature; her nature now.

Yet as she stood there in the entrance to the Spider's Lair, staring up into the resurrected face of Uldren Sov, an Awoken Prince who unleashed unspeakable horrors into the System, had killed Cayde-6, now resurrected as a Hunter and blessed with the Light, Mira-3 couldn't shake the unmistakable sense that somewhere, some cosmic being was laughing at the irony of her situation.

It was enough to make Mira-3 snort at least.

"Is...I'm sorry is something amusing?" the Awoken man looked at her confused.

"Aha-ha-no." Mira-3 cleared her throat, the sound more like a mess of metallic noises. "I was just thinking..."

She tapped a gloved hand against the white, black, and gold accented Siegebreaker armor of her chest and then stepped around him quickly, spotting the spined Eliksni standing just in his shadow. So, Spider had sent Crow along with a friend. This was another sort of trap laid out by the Spider, and one Mira-3 intended to live through.

"Thank you for catching my mask. May I have it back please... _Crow_..."

His name came slowly from her glowing, metal jaws as if Mira were tasting it, extending her hands out towards him.

A sheepish look crossed his face as he carefully extended the mask to her.

"This mask is quite interesting, very Vex-like in design." he noted, glancing at it briefly. "I have heard the tales that Radiolarian fluid was used in Exo construction, is that why you...picked it?"

His question was tentative, as if he were tiptoeing around the subject, yet couldn't resist being curious. As Mira-3 took the mask from him, for the briefest of moments, her gloved fingers touched his own, before she pulled the item away. Tucking the mask under her arm, the glowing orbs of her eyes looked up to study his face and what she found surprised her.

Crow still retained all the handsome features of his Awoken species, and there was an unmistakable regal air to him that not even the cloak around him could hide. Then again, he was a prince, even death couldn't hide bred regality, Mira-3 presumed. Although Mira was tall even for most Exo females, Crow was still a good forehead taller than herself, and carried himself with a practice grace like most Hunters. Yet a dark cloud seemed to hang over him, and a deep unmistakable sorrow lay apparent in the depths of his eyes.

"I- I apologize again, I don't mean to pry." he said quickly, then offered with a tight lipped smile. "Professional curiosity? I suppose Rio must have told you all about me, which is how you know my name, and yours is Mira-3, correct?"

Even when he smiled Crow was tormented, and it was enough to pluck at heartstrings Mira-3 didn't have.

"You're very observant, Crow." she replied evenly, yet decided to avoid his initial question. "Please, call me Mira, and you said that you have something I'm owed?"

"Ah yes," he nodded, then turned to the spined Eliksni waiting behind him. "Arrha, the engram."

The Dreg pulled out a blue engram with a clawed hand and extended it to Crow, who took it, and then offered it to Mira-3.

"In here, you will find your cut of the glimmer and the resources from the bounty you completed for Spider." Crow explained.

Mira-3 carefully plucked the engram from his fingers and pocketed it:

"Please send my thanks to the Spider, I hope that I'm able to do business with him again on...amicable terms."

Then the Exo Hunter pulled out a small data-slate from her hip and quickly tapped the surface with her thumb several times. A bright chirp sounded from the slate, and a second one echoed from something in Crow's pocket. He stiffened for a moment, tapped the slate at his hip and then looked at her warily.

"What is-" he started.

"My transmission code." Mira-3's glowing, orange orbs eyed him coyly as she stepped closer to him and looked up into his face. "If you should ever want to know more about Exo's on a...professional level...call me."

Crow swallowed hard yet kept his face blank, but she saw the corners of his lips turn up ever so slightly.

"I'll consider it." he replied slowly. "Safe travels to you, Mira-3."

He gave her the slightest of bows reaching up to touch the top of his hood with the tips of his fingers, before turning to head back into the depths of the Spider's Lair, and the Exo's eyes watched him go like a hunter watching prey.

"Safe travels to you too, Crow." she rejoined with a slight smile of her own.

Then the Dreg, Arrha came scuttling past her, pausing for a moment to glare at her, a hiss rumbling from the Eliksni as it shook its spines at her, before following after Crow into the darkness. The Exo frowned at the retreating alien, then pocketed the data slate, and turned, placing the mask over her head. The cycloptic eye of the mask blazed to life with yellowish light as she secured the glasps around her neck and began walking out into the wilds of the Tangled shore, descending the stairs. She pulled the hood of her purple Empyrean cloak over her head and centered the horns over her mask. Mira-3 felt complete once more with her mask and hood back on as she drew the cloak tightly around her form to shroud herself within it; never felt quite right without them.

"Am I to assume that you were just flirting...with _him?!_ "

Mira felt her Ghost wriggling in the folds of her cowl near her neck as she walked out onto the dusty asteroid rock of the Shore.

"Nothing's hotter than flirting with a dangerous man, Murdock." Mira smugly replied.

"But he seemed rather harmless, actually, almost like, a lost puppy." Murdock flopped against her neck as he chirped in contemplation.

The Exo laughed behind her helm:

"Therein lies the danger, my Ghost, puppies can grow up to be wolves, and we have already seen what Crow was capable of as a simple man. Think of what he will wreak now that he's been given the Light!"

"That tone in your voice, My Guardian, it's got that hungry, creepy villain vibe to it." she felt his shell twist nervously against her. "I don't like it when your voice gets like that. Oh that reminds me! The Drifter sent a message for you."

The Hunter halted in her tracks, paused for a moment, then smoothly pulled her Ghost out of her cloak to stare at him.

"The Drifter?"

"Yes?" Murdock's reticle darted about in his shell nervously for a moment, "He said-"

"SHH!" Mira swiftly lifted a finger. "Take us to Orbit, then the Tower, Murdock."

"Guardian, how did you know he wa-"

" _HHJ-JTT-TT!_ " The Exo hushed him sharply. "Transmat us, now, if you please."

"Okee-dokee!" Murdock chirped brightly.

In a swirling flash of light, the Hunter's form disapperated from the asteroid banks of the Tangled Shore and was gone in an instant. 

**_[To be continued...]_ **


	5. An Auspicious Gift

"Well that's... rather morbid..."

Mira-3's glowing orange eyes were locked onto the large duffle bag just near her feet, the stout container so stuffed to the brim with severed Vex limbs that they were sticking out of it.

"Perhaps the Drifter was in a hurry and needed the parts for... something?"

Murdock's white Arch Shell scrunched as he attempted to make sense of the ghastly sight, all while floating just above his Guardian's right shoulder.

"Or he wanted an extra hand... and a leg... or five." Mira mused grimly.

Lifting her eyes and rolling her shoulders back, the Exo Hunter raised a gloved hand to rub the back of her neck as she turned away to gaze about the room. The Drifter's hovel in the Annex of the Tower was empty, save for herself and Murdock- and of course the vast curiosities he kept within. No Gambit matches were scheduled to be held for several hours, and the Exo Hunter found herself alone in the dim Annex when she arrived. As Mira stood on the metal platform where she would normally converse with the Drifter, the orbs of her eyes wandered across the large mote bank in the center of the room, the container swirling with bright, white light. Lowering her arm, the Hunter turned, letting her eyes drift to the shelves on her left, filled with musty books, machinery, cases, and other strange objects. Finally her sight rested on the table and the basket of emerald coins just next to-

Something shifted in the room and a bright, metallic sound filled the air.

Mira-3 whirled sharply to see the Drifter suddenly standing at the end of the platform, a smug grin on his face as his gloved hand swiftly moved to catch the emerald coin in his fingers.

A sharp whistle sounded from his lips as he sized her up, "You've got some mighty sharp reflexes; I almost got the drop on you, Sister."

All thoughts of how the Drifter could've snuck up on her were cast aside from Mira's mind as she relaxed. The man was as uncanny as a snake, and this was his domain. There could be any number of entrances and exits to this room that she didn't know about. Yet even Mira was grateful to have caught him in the sneak.

"I assume you didn't summon me all the way here just to test my reflexes, Drifter? Not after all the matches of Gambit you've seen me play." She noted, feeling Murdock dart hastily into the safety of her cloak. "Especially alone..."

"Direct and to the point, you Exos, I like that." Drifter grinned stepping up to the table and laying a dark weapon case on its surface. "Let's get down to business..."

Without taking his eyes off her, the Drifter slowly slid the case across the surface of the table in her direction with one hand, as if he were pushing a hand of cards along a table. The orbs of Mira-3's eyes carefully followed his movements, watched as he pulled his hand away from the case, then stepped back to lean against the metal railing of the platform. Pulling out another emerald coin to roll between his fingers, The Drifter's grin seemed to broaden as he watched confusion cloud the Exo's face.

"Tell me, Sister. Did ya do it?"

Despite his casual, grinning demeanor, the man's eyes were focused on her with pinpoint precision; and Mira-3 knew exactly what he was asking.

"Yes." She replied evenly, the glowing orbs of her eyes steadily gazing into his own. "I killed the Dredgen Titan known as Krieg." Then her gaze shifted. "But I did not know he was a Dredgen until after."

The coin rolled swiftly across the Drifter's fingers, then came to a sharp halt with a flex of his thumb.

"And did you off his Ghost too ?"

"No." The hellish orbs of her eyes returned to his face. "Rio Oshi-Ii sold Krin off to Spider, and now, Krin is barely alive."

"I see. Rio Rat took his little share, hmm." The Drifter nodded as he stood up from the railing and clasped his hands together, the green coin gone from his fingers. "And did old Kriegy Boy happen to mention anything about his old fireteam before you snuffed him out? Anything at all?"

He took a step closer towards her and Mira became subliminally aware of how she was cornered by the railings on three sides, yet forced herself to remain steady.

"He told me that the Hive killed them. Krieg said he'd watched as they tore the Light from their broken forms, then let the Thrall eat what was left." She answered grimly.

"Well..." The Drifter sighed as he hung his for a moment, then he perked right back up. "At least that's the good news, you've caught a lucky break for a moment, kid."

Mira-3 scowled hard up in the Drifter's face as he turned and headed back to lean against the side of the table, pulling out another coin to flip between his fingers.

Stepping up to the side of the table, the Exo firmly planted a hand on its surface, causing the table to somewhat vibrate.

Then she spoke:

"This isn't one of your games, Drifter and I'm done talking in riddles." Mira glowered at him. "Half of this conversation could have been done over a secure comms channel, yet you called me here. And are you saying I'm lucky that Krieg's fireteam is dead because they had turned Dredgen too?" Mira's scowl only deepened as the Drifter's grin broadened. "I grow tired of secrets. What do you want from me, Drifter?"

The metal and wood of the table began to loudly strain beneath the grasp of the Exo's hand where she gripped it. Yet the man across from her simply held out his hands, his whole form relaxed from where he rested against the far edge of the table.

"Whoah, take it easy, Sister, there's no need for hostilities. Wouldn't want you to blow a gasket or something." He quipped, giving her a wink as he started to explain. "I was just worried at first that you might be a fluke, Guardians accidentally kill Dredgen all the time, but your story... it's different. So I had to see you with my own eyes, hear the tale right from that glowing chatter box of yours." He paused to whip out another coin before continuing. "Now that my mind is at ease, I'm happy to bring you into the fold as an official Dredgen, with a gift from the congregation."

He motioned to the weapon case again and Mira hesitated, her grip on the table going limp as her eyes turned to the case. Several questions and absurdities came to Mira's mind as she slowly turned and faced the blackened case on the table. Her fingers gently wandered over the surface of it and paused over the latches, then her head whirled back towards the Drifter.

"I killed one Dredgen on accident, and now you're suddenly giving me a title and a weapon in exchange for murder?"

A toothy smile spread across the scarred, bearded face of the man next to her.

"Don't sell yourself short, Sister. Killing Krieg, who just so happened to be a Dredgen in self defense, was the straw that tipped the scale. You've long met every other requirement from how well you play Gambit." He clarified. "But that weapon's not from me."

Mira's brow furrowed, "I thought you said it was from your congregation?"

"Mine ain't the only head that's been turning in your direction, Mira-3."

.Glancing away from the Drifter, Mira-3's hellish eyes focused back on the case. Her fingers flipped open the clasps then swiftly opened the lid. The orbs of her eyes widened at what she saw lying inside and for an instant she grew as still as a statue.

A hand cannon was carefully placed inside the case but it was not just any ordinary pistol. The barrel was jagged at the edges, the surfaces of the weapon looked as if they had been hewn and carved from the bones of a Hive creature. Dark metal bands were burned, modeled into the bone around the pistol and the cylinder as if to torturously keep the pieces contained to its shape. Peering out through the deep gouges and punctures along the barrel, blazed a hellish, milky white energy. A radiance that seemed to teem with keen intelligence: an awareness of pain and hunger.

As Mira-3's fingers slipped quickly away from the case's lid in shock, she knew instantly what weapon she was looking at: the Thorn.

Tearing her gaze away from the weapon she looked to the Drifter, "I am not in the habit of obtaining cursed items. I'm sorry but I must decline this gift."

"Oh this one's not cursed, Sister." The Drifter waved his hand. "It is however a lovingly crafted, and might I add, beautiful replica of the original." He cracked another smile. "The only thing this cannon's going to do is bring suffering to your enemies. But if you're looking for a refund, you'll have to talk to the guy that left it here for you."

"And who is that? Where is he?" Mira asked.

Still smirking, the Drifter walked over and lifted the lid as he looked down inside the case, and Mira followed his gaze.

"You'll just have to figure that out, Sister."

Just as his hand snapped the lid closed, the Exo spotted a data slate hidden in the lid of the case. The Drifter secured the latches and then stepped back as he lifted the case by the handle and offered it to her. Mira carefully grasped the handle and let the case fall close to her hip. Giving him a polite nod Mira-3 went to step around him to leave.

"Thank you for the title and the gift, Drifter, here's hoping I don't end up using them much."

Yet as she stepped up beside him, the Drifter's hand shot out and caught her arm, and Mira-3 froze mid step.

"One more thing before you go, kid..."

Mira kept herself still and relaxed, not quite sensing a threat from the old human as she felt his eyes on her once more, but she refused to meet his gaze as her eyes stayed focused on the door leading to the Annex.

"Just a word of advice from your old pal, Drifter, find your friends and keep 'em close, real close." His voice was low as he spoke. "And come back, and get that Ghost Shell from me sometime soon when you can. Murdock is going to look so much more protected in it."

Mira paused for a moment letting his words sink into her metallic skull, then she pulled away and turned to him.

"I'll come back for the Shell, Drifter, and I'll bring some friends. I promise." She nodded quietly.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, "You're a Dredgen now, sister, go fight like one. Just don't let it go to your head."

Despite it, a small smile graced Mira's skull-like face as she nodded, then quickly turned, walked out of the Drifter's room, and stepped out into the Annex. The Hunter took graceful strides down the steps towards the landing docks and summoned her ship as her mind raced again. Yet, the smile faded quickly from her face as Murdock was swiftly in her hand, the transmat process initiating to take them to orbit. As light swirled around her and shapes began to morph out of existence, Mira-3 knew one thing was absolute.

_She was in great danger._

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There were certain inalienable truths in Mira-3's world as she'd come to know them since her resurrection into becoming a Guardian. The greatest of them was that she detested the Hive and everything about them with every fiber of her being, for the simple truth that Hive get off on pain. Just knowing that about them and their culture, that it was written into their biology, made Mira-3's metallic skin crawl.

And now here she was in the berthing of her ship, staring at a Hive Thorn hand cannon custom made for her, still in its case, as if it were going to make her sick.

Murdock's shell sat atop her head peering down at the weapon with her, his bright reticle darting back and forth over it carefully.

"Do you think it bites?" Murdock asked softly, his shell chirping inquisitively.

As if on cue, Mira-3's teal robotic fingers reached for a chopstick on the table, flicked it up with a dramatic pull of her wrist, then slowly angled it toward the weapon. Murdock's shell rolled forward just a little farther to get a better look as Mira angled the top of the chopstick then struck. Murdock flinched as the gun twitched from the impact of the prod, a nervous grinding coming from his shell, but the Thorn remained inert. Mira frowned and jabbed at the hand cannon a few more times but the weapon did not respond. Relaxing back in her seat and tossing the chopstick away, Mira-3's emberous eyes glanced back down to the data slate in her other hand.

"Hmmm." Murduck hummed, his shell twisting across her head. "Maybe we should test it on something- not a living something, maybe like a rock or-"

"...High Priest..."

"A what?" Murdock's iris titled down to look at his Guardian. "You want to test it on a High Priest?"

"No." Mira rejoined somewhat annoyed as she shook her head and plucked her Ghost from his perch to set him down on the table. "It's this message on the slate..."

Murdock made himself comfortable on a pile of napkins and peered up at her curiously, "What does it say, Guardian?"

Mira rested her wrist on the table that held the slate and began to read:

_" Mira-3_

_For every burst of Light, comes a wave of Darkness. We, of the Gang, have seen you walk the razor's edge of the Sickle and the Knife, and we are pleased. But know now that the path you walk has grown dangerous. For every Dredgen felled, more will rise to meet you. Use this gift to end the pain they would cause to you, or others, and lay a thorn upon their graves._

_May the Blessings of the Sickle & the Knife be forever in your hands. Knives up, Sister._

_\- The High Priest "_

Mira paused tapping the back of the slate with a finger then she spoke again:

"There's more. Some kind of task, like a test."

She tossed the data slate onto the table in an angry huff.

Murdock turned following the slate, seeing the image of an Eliksni Kell plastered across the screen, before turning back to his Guardian, only to pause seeing the anger in her glowing orange eyes.

"Do you know anything about anyone who refers to themselves as 'the High Priest', Murdock?" She asked firmly.

His reticle darted back and forth inside his shell quickly as he let out a series of audible ticks, searching his memory.

"No, my Guardian, at least no one who is still alive, and nothing with a 'gang' affiliation, either."

The Exo rubbed a hand across her face tugging at a horn in frustration, "What about registered Thorn owners, who are also Dredgen?"

Murdock shot up from the table and swiftly floated to a nearby console where he shone a bright beam of light into the junction, to search for the answer.

"Oh...oh dear..." his shell whined after a moment.

Mira clutched at her forehead horns with both hands as she rested her elbows on the table:

"Let me guess, there are a lot of them and they all have a Thorn...."

"Would you like an overall number, or would you like for me to break it down categorically by Guardians by species and Thorn type?" Murdock offered gently.

A deep metallic groan of angst sounded from the Exo as she slumped back into her chair and stared hopelessly at the ceiling.

"It would be like finding a needle in a haystack... if only..." Mira muttered, then growled as she clawed at her face. "If only I had a clue! What am I missing?!"

Disconnecting the beam of light from the console, Murdock's white and golden streaked Arch Shell drifted to her shoulder, his reticle eyeing his Guardian sympathetically.

"If there's no clues in the message, or the gun, what about the 'task' this 'High Priest' has given you?" He ventured.

Letting her hands slump away from her face, Mira slapped her hand against the table and jerked herself up into a sitting position as she reached for the data slate again. The glowing orange orbs set in the dark sockets of her teal skull-like face stared hard at the slate as she thumbed through it silently. Then she paused on the image of the large Eliksni Kell and pressed the slate back down onto the table.

"The task is relatively simple." Mira began. "Infiltrate Riis-Reborn, scout the sewers below and report back any activities or findings on an Eliksni known as Anaphis. She's a Kell working with House Salvation, threw her claws in with their dogma it seems; they call her 'The Kell of Aphids' no information as to why." Mira let out a small snicker. "I'm sure Spider might disagree with that title."

"Does it say who you are to report to?" Murdock queried hopefully.

"Yes." Mira frowned. "The Vanguard. So whoever this is will either be monitoring Vanguard channels or they're in on it. Which leaves me right back to square nothing."

Her eyes fell on the Thorn sitting in its case and for an instant, it seemed as if the weapon were staring back at her, enjoying her misery. Mira slapped the case closed, shutting the weapon in darkness and sharply closing the clasps. Then she lifted a bottle of water from the table and took a deep swig, not that her Exo body needed the hydration, Mira just felt the overwhelming urge to drown her feelings.

Murdock floated carefully into her view, the gentle light from his optic falling across her face.

"Well, my Guardian, what do you think we should do?"

Swallowing the last of the water through her glowing metallic jaws, Mira-3 set the bottle down and slowly wiped the back of her hand across her mouth.

"Well, Murdock." The hellish orbs of his Exo eyed him purposefully. "I think we should go play hide and seek with this Kell and see what happens..."

**_[To be continued...]_ **


	6. Before the Fall

A small squad of Eliksni shrouded in white and blue embossed House of Salvation cloaks stood huddled around a small heater in an abandoned sewer tunnel deep beneath Europa, the device struggling to keep the biting cold at bay. While the aliens were thankful there was at least no wind or snowfall to further add to their plight, still the frigid air nipped at their exposed skin and the ice along the metal walls around them made the conditions in the tunnel only slightly more tolerable than the surface. A set of Vandals watched either side of the tunnel as they roved in shifts, their rifles at the ready, four shimmering eyes peering into the gloom of the tunnel. The only real light came from the large hole above them from another tunnel and the standing lights along the sides of the tunnel.

Suddenly the generator that powered the heater and the lights near their sector started to shudder, and with a grumpy snarl, their Captain stomped over and kicked the metal device to get it working again. The lights went out in the tunnel as the generator shut off. A round of confused and disgruntled sounds echoed from the gathered Eliksni as the dark set in.

And that's when the screaming started.

First it was the Captain that bellowed as something sliced cleanly through him, then the other Eliksni erupted into shrieks as panic and confusion set in amongst their ranks. The sounds of crackling ice, eviscerated limbs, gunfire, grunts, death screams, and bursting ether filled the dark tunnel. Then everything went quiet.

The generator abruptly turned back on with a loud rumble, causing the heater and the lights to burst back to life, and standing next to it was the figure of a lone Hunter. Carefully sheathing her falling Guillotine behind her back, the Hunter's Steadfast Mask roved over the scene of dead and eviscerated Fallen corpses around her. Brushing a bit of snow off the shoulder of her white Empyrean cloak, the Guardian shifted uncomfortably in her black, white, and gold accented Crystocrene armor.

"Ugh, this armor is so...thick." she grumbled as she tugged on it. "I feel like a padded goose; I can barely move in it."

Pulling out a Succession sniper rifle from her back, the Guardian began to move deeper into the tunnel, following the electrical lines of the lights, and keeping to the shadows.

"At least it keeps you warm right?" her Ghost's voice filled her headspace. "It is well below sub freezing temperatures down here, and even your Exo body would suffer severely in these conditions."

"Are you sure you got me the right size armor, Murdock?" the Hunter queried as she peeked quickly around a corner, then sniped a set of wandering Vandals through the scope, dropping them instantly, before advancing. "It feels a little tight..."

"I know your dimensions perfectly well, my Guardian! Th-that is to say I'm certain I..." Murdock flustered, letting out a series of embarrassed, electronic grinding noises. "Perhaps I miscalculated the insulation in the armor..."

Mira-3 crouched over the corpses of the Vandals she'd shot, quickly glancing around the junction of the tunnel to make sure no other enemies were in sight before searching them. Holstering her sniper rifle, the Hunter rolled the first Vandal over, his four arms flopping listlessly in all directions as her hands searched him. Nothing. Taking another quick glance, Mira scuttled to the other already on his back and sure enough, at his hip was a data slate.

"Bingo." she whispered triumphantly. "Murdock, upload this, quickly."

In a flash of light, her Ghost's white and gold streaked Arch Shell was right next to her hand. He swiftly cast a beam of light over the slate as he began to absorb the data within. Mira's cycloptic eyed mask jerked up and looked around making sure nothing had eyes on them as Murdock worked, pulling out her Ace of Spades just in case. Suddenly, the beam of light faded from Murdock's reticle and he peered up at her.

"Got it!" he said.

"Good, now hide." she instructed, crushing the slate with her hand, and Murdock vanished into her cloak in another burst of Light. "Tell me what you found, Murdock."

Holstering her hand cannon and brushing off the dust of the slate, Mira-3 pulled her sniper rifle back out and began to follow the trail of lights down the tunnel, while Murdock spoke:

"Let's see here...propaganda...love letter...oh my, that drawing is lewd! Hmm...shipment manifests..." he began, clicking and chirping as he poured over the data. "Anaphis is trying to fill the void left by Eramis' murdered generals and continue on the preachings of salvation for the Eliksni by serving the Darkness, hence the propaganda I found. The shipping manifests were for weapons but nothing significant. This Vandal is probably too low on the totem pole to know much. However he did mention in the unsent love letter that Anaphis was going to 'cut down the Great Traitor' and 'cause great suffering to the Guardians'." he paused, nervously chiming in her ears. "Please, be careful, Mira, her hideout is just up ahead, and I have a terrible feeling about this."

"Don't fret, Murdock." Mira assured him. "We're just here to scout and collect information, not be heroes."

As Mira rounded the bend, voices began to drift from around the corner and she slid to a halt near the edge to take a peek. The wall that she was looking through had been carved out, as if someone had blasted a hole from the sewers and into a space just above an old subway section. The electrical lines that connected the lights ran around the edge and into this space to another generator set just to one side of the unadorned, ice coated concrete room. The floor was covered with a sheen of ice that was strange compared to the rest of the ice that covered the walls, and the more that Mira-3 looked at it, it dawned on her that the floor was made of domed glass. A stairway set in a far wall led down into the glassed over section below and the unmistakable sound of Eliksni chatter drifted up from the chamber. A group of Fallen Wretches were lingering around the generator, while an uncloaked Marauder leaned up against the wall, both sets of his arms folded across his chest, looking sleepy, or cold, perhaps both.

Carefully aiming the site of her sniper rifle between the Marauder's eyes, Mira-3 pulled the trigger.

With a sickening pop and a rush of Ether, the Marauder's body jerked as his head exploded and his form crumpled to the icy floor. Mira-3 swiftly holstered her rifle and rushed from around the corner as the Wretches looked in shock at their comrade's body. A sickle of ice formed in her hand as she charged forward and the gathered Fallen suddenly looked up in her direction, but it was too late. Hurling the sickle at the Wretch farthest to the left, Mira-3 watched as it struck his body, bounced off, struck all of his companions, and froze them solid in their tracks. Jumping up into the air, Mira pulled another deadly scythe of ice into being and struck it down upon them in a shattering dive landing on one knee, scattering their corpses into frozen chunks, like shards of shattered glass.

Rising to her feet in the broken remains of her foes, Mira-3 exhaled inside her mask, and for a moment the lens inside became cloudy.

Feeling a slight tingling in her fingers, like she had lost feeling in them, the Hunter shook her hands and flexed them as she turned and looked at the floor.

"It scares me how naturally you seem to use Stasis, Guardian." Murdock spoke up. "You...become numb to me when you draw from the Darkness. I don't like feeling disconnected from you."

Kneeling down, Mira brushed a layer of frost and snow off of the curved floor but paused realizing how thick the ice was covering the glass and sat back on her heels.

"I wonder if that is because I'm an Exo, Murdock. I'm closer to the Darkness because I was reborn on this dark, frozen rock." Mira-3 surmised, then she admitted softly. "But being disconnected from you scares me, and I won't do anything that would cause that disconnect to be permanent. I promise."

"I'll hold you to that promise, Guardian." the Ghost chirped thoughtfully.

Mira-3 smiled behind her mask, "Now hush I'm trying to think."

Looking up, the wide glowing lens of Mira's mask fell on the generator and she rose to her feet making her way quickly towards it. Grasping hold of a rubber tube on the side, Mira yanked it off with a hard tug and hot air began to spew instantly from the end, causing steam to form in the cold air. Pulling the tube as far as it would let her, the Hunter got back down on her hands and knees, and began to carefully melt away the ice from the glass floor. Reaching over to grasp a severed Eliksni hand, Mira used it to help wipe away the watery slush as a section of the pane was revealed, exposing the chamber below. Tossing the soggy and quickly freezing dead hand aside, then flinging the tubing off behind her, Mira-3 brought the glowing mask of her helm close to the glass and peered inside.

The chamber below was large and well lit, once part of a subway tunnel as she had surmised before, yet there were no rails. If this section had rails they were either never installed or they had been removed. Perhaps in the overhead? The floor was strangely the same level as the platforms where passengers would board the line, only a small divot on either side to indicate where the cars would have travelled, making Mira believe this was a junction and not a main boarding platform. Eliksni roved about below her in numbers too great for her to initially count, pushing containers along the sides of the platforms and loading them with crates of...

"Explosives and weapons." Mira whispered under her breath. "A lot of them."

Then something big caught the corner of her vision and Mira's head turned to see a large Kell standing just at the edge of the hole she'd melted for her to see through. This Eliksni towered over the others making them seem like ants scurrying around a queen bee. The Hunter shifted trying to get a better look, yet all she saw was the massive alien's back, covered in a large cloak of House Salvation, a large pelt of fur around the collar. They were conversing with a group of Captains and with the multitude of voices drifting up from the stairwell, Mira-3 couldn't make out what was being said.

"That is one big Kell." she heard Murdock murmur.

"They're always big," Mira countered softly, as she shifted again trying to get a better view. "I just need-"

"Guardian, behind you!"

Mira whirled around at the sound of Murdock's warning just in time for her to see the boot as it collided with her head.

A loud grunt sounded from her as the Exo's head snapped around and her vision filled momentarily with stars. Rough hands grasped hold of her as her body went momentarily limp, but then Mira-3's fight response kicked in, and the struggle was on. Twisting furiously before she could be pinned, Mira-3 threw a punch at where she anticipated her attacker's head to be and was rewarded with the feel of her knuckles striking something, and a grunt in kind. Yet the strike was glancing, sloppy, and her attacker brushed it off, kneeing her in the ribs before grasping hold of her neck. The air rushed from Mira's chest and her body jerked as she reached up to claw at the hand around her throat, her other going for the Ace at her hip.

Her attacker's hand went from her neck and seized her wrist as she went for the gun, yanking it back before she could grab it. She heard him snarl and the next thing Mira knew she was being hauled upwards off the ground. The world spun and Mira yelped as she flailed helplessly without a sense of direction. The world finally came to a halt as her back slammed into the Fallen generator and she was pinned against it. A blade sang through the air as it came to rest against her throat and Mira-3 froze as the Celestial Nighthawk mask of her attacker came into view.

"Rio?!" Mira-3 blurted, reaching up to grasp the wrist of the hand he used to press the knife against her neck. "What in the hell are you doing here?"

"I wasn't through talking about our partnership, Mira." he spat back squeezing her other wrist as she struggled.

"Talk?" she rejoined hotly, glaring at him through the cycloptic eye of her mask. "With a knife at my throat?"

"You shot me, remember?" the eyes of his mask flashed angrily. "This is just a precaution."

As Mira sucked in a breath to speak, it suddenly dawned on her - the tunnel was now extremely quiet, and a shudder ran through her body.

"Rio," she said urgently, her voice hushed. "We can talk later, we need to- "

Then the generator at her back started to vibrate violently as something inside it made an unearthly shrieking noise.

" _Oh son of a_ -"

Mira cursed as both she and Rio dodged out of the way in unison as the generator rattled itself off its moorings and then abruptly exploded. The Hunters tumbled and ducked as the generator became a massive fireball sending out a shuddering boom through the tunnel, bits of metal and ice raining down from the ceiling, and cracking the floor beneath them. Mira-3 curled up into a ball and rolled to a halt, snuffing out her cape as it caught fire as she slid to a halt on her side, and Rio stopped just on his back beside her. As the light from the explosion faded, the tunnel grew dim, yet remained illuminated from the light coming from the chamber below.

Ears ringing, Mira-3 forced herself to stand, trying to shake off the blast as she steadied herself on her feet and began to stumble towards the exit of the tunnel. A hand grasped hold of her arm and pulled her back and she whirled around to see Rio on his feet, his dark Iron will armor slightly scorched and the fringes of his crimson cape singed. She grasped onto his shoulder and tried to pull him with her down the tunnel but he resisted, staying rooted to the spot.

"Rio, we have to get outta here!" she shouted at him.

"Not before you tell me what you're doing down here!" he snapped back.

"Idiot!" Mira shook him. "It's not-"

Then she saw a ripple in the air behind him.

"VANDAL!"

With uncanny strength, the Exo flung her fellow Hunter towards the center of the room and pulled out her Ace of Spades firing off a shot from her hip just as the Fallen Vandal lunged with an arc blade. As Rio sprawled to the floor with a loud grunt, the Ace's shot tore through the Vandal killing it instantly and rendering it visible, However, the Fallen's forward momentum carried its strike through and Mira felt the blade sink home just below her collar bone. Hissing in pain, the Vandal's corpse tackled Mira to the floor and she swiftly kicked it off of her, reaching up to yank the blade out of her chest.

"Dammit!" Mira swore, looking at the hole in her chest as she tossed the blade aside. "I _just_ got this armor!"

Shots rang out as Rio was now on his knees firing off rounds from his Dire Promise as another Vandal charged him. The creature fell dead and Rio quickly went to reload slapping rounds in the cylinder and snapping the weapon closed, just as another started swinging at him. Mira-3 jumped to her feet intending to charge forward but had to dodge backwards on instinct as an arc blade hissed passed her body. Growling in frustration, the Hunter fired off two shots, severing the Wretch's arms. The Fallen shrieked as she shoved an icy sickle into his face, that bounced off, and ricocheted around the room. Mira stifled a shriek herself as his body fell into icy chunks, the motion causing the wound in her chest to ache, but pushed through it. Yet just as Mira-3 turned to check on Rio, she was forced to duck as a Wretch charged her, and tackled her to the floor.

If there was one thing that Mira-3 despised the most about Eliksni, it was that they seemed to have hands everywhere, and it wasn't fair. Twisting her head frantically, the Hunter barely managed to dodge the wild swings of the creature's arc blades as he tried to carve into her face, while his lower arms pinned her to her floor. Grunting, Mira yanked hard to pull her gun arm free of the creature's grip but its hold was too firm, so she did the one thing no Fallen ever expected. The Hunter squirmed enough to get her leg out from under his, and then wrapped her leg around his face. Blinded and confused, the Wretch let go of his weapons to try and pry her leg from his head with his upper arms, sitting up, and that is when Mira slammed him down to the floor to pin him.

The Exo sneered behind her mask hearing a loud series of snaps from the Wretch's body as he folded over in her legs.

As the Wretch writhed in agony, his screams muffled by her knee, Mira took a moment to glance over in Rio's direction. He too was in a hand-to-hand struggle with a Vandal, two of the creature's arms were missing, but that didn't stop it from putting up a decent fight as they both struggled for control over his pistol. Fearful that he might lose, Mira swiftly pulled herself upwards, kneeling on top of the Wretch, cracking his skull open with the butt of her gun, and he went limp beneath her. Yet, as the Exo whirled around, she watched a charged grenade fall out of the Vandal's grasp as Rio delivered a vicious punch to the alien's face. The red light on the explosive started to beep as it rolled towards his feet. Mira's heart sank as she looked at the cracked floor, knowing there was glass beneath them, as Rio put the pistol to the Vandal's chest.

"RIO, DON'T!"

Rio pulled the trigger, the grenade went off, a terrible shattering noise filled the tunnel, and the floor gave out beneath them.

**_[To be continued...]_ **


	7. The Kell of Aphids

Falling was an all too familiar sensation and common occurrence for Mira-3.

Since being reborn again as a Guardian, and physically made of metal and synthetic materials as an Exo, Mira-3 fell in a similar fashion to a heavy stone. It took her a long time to get the hang of being able to jump and land properly without gravely injuring or killing herself despite having the grace of a Hunter. Even then most days she often felt gravity was her greatest enemy more so than anything else in the system, and if anything was most likely to kill her, it would be that. Truth be told, Mira had fallen and died, a lot. It didn't mean that she enjoyed or had gotten used to it, but by now she was well versed in the act of falling.

As the floor dropped out below her in the frozen sewers below Europa and gravity started to pull her down, Mira-3's brain went into practiced survival overdrive.

Her hand thrust the Ace of Spades into its holster knowing that if she didn't secure it, the gun would fly off or become damaged upon impact. Next she tucked her legs up and placed the corpse of the Wretch underneath her so his body would cushion her impact, as much as could be expected considering his body contained hard bones and armor. Then she curled up on her side into a fetal position where the Vandal's arc blade had pierced her chest. This side of her body had already been injured, if it became further damaged in the fall, at least the Exo would have one good set of functioning limbs.

The floor came up fast; it always did.

With a crunching thud, Mira-3 slammed down on top of the Wretch, the wind knocked from her as she bounced slightly off of him and then rolled onto the floor, glass raining down all around her. Shuddering to take in a breath and get her bearings, the Exo writhed where she lay, trying to force her dazed mind to work. The Hunter was lying face down, pain radiating from her left shoulder, but the limb seemed to be working well enough. A sharp ach shot through her left side as she coughed, yet thankfully both her legs seemed to be functioning fine as they squirmed against the floor. Sliding her right arm through the glass along the floor, Mira-3 brought it up beneath her to push herself up on her elbow. But the Exo stopped as the cycloptic lens of her Steadfast mask looked up and saw the vast hordes of Eliksni staring at her from every direction.

"So..." she breathed. "This a private club or do I gotta pay a fee to get in?"

As one the Eliksni shrieked in fury and charged forward.

Mira-3 pulled her feet underneath her and dodged backwards towards the center of the room, pulling out her Ace of Spades and squeezing off a couple of shots. Two Dregs went down instantly, but there was no time for the Hunter to do anything else as the rest of the Eliksni swarmed her like an angry mob. She turned trying to jump over them, only to be yanked down by her cape, gagging loudly as she was tackled by a Wretch and wrestled to the floor. Pinned face down Mira-3 struggled violently but it was no use, the Fallen's hands were everywhere. Her vision went momentarily blind then her head was jerked painfully to one side as they ripped her helmet off. The Exo tried to lift her head but it was slammed hard into a large grate in the floor and she winced. Strong hands tried to rip the hand cannon from her fingers, but Mira-3 refused to let go, so they started stomping on her hand. The Exo screamed as the Fallen began to viciously beat and tear at her; the sound of her cloak and armor being ripped apart reached her ears.

Then through their feet, Mira-3 saw Rio lying on the floor not but a few feet away and her glowing, orange eyes grew wide. Time seemed to slow as she stared at his tanned face, one side covered in blood, his eyes closed. His limp body jolted as the Fallen beat and stabbed at his form.

"No..." Mira's words were strained, as she felt something dark well up inside her. "Leave him alone..."

The Ace of Spades was torn from her fingers just as a Captain wrenched Rio up by his golden braids and placed a blade to his throat.

_"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"_

Dark energy burst forth from Mira-3's form in a cascading bubble, freezing all the Eliksni above in an instant, only for them to shatter into a thousand pieces as she shot into the air above them in a spinning torrent. Surrounded by that same energy the Hunter screamed as two sickles of ice formed in her hands and she flung one in the direction of the Captain that held Rio, eviscerating the Fallen instantly and causing a hellish tornado of icy wind to fill the chamber. Mira-3 cast the other at her feet, to the Fallen that had held her and another tornado burst forth. As the Exo landed on her feet, the Fallen horde scrambled to flee her Dark Super as it raced through the tunnel, freezing and crushing them in its wake in droves.

Battered and broken, Mira-3 limped towards Rio, scooping up her Ace of Spades as she went and quickly reloaded it. She knelt down beside her fellow Hunter and, as she rolled him over, his chest expanded and he let out a ragged cough. Mira-3 breathed a sigh of relief knowing he was still alive, if only unconscious as she began to look swiftly around the room, dragging him with her on her heels. She knew her Super wouldn't last for long, the stairway was still too far away for her to drag Rio with her, and she couldn't jump back up through the roof with him, and sadly, there were still too many Fallen for the Super to take out. The only other visible exits were the other ends of the tunnel, barred by their remaining enemies.

The glowing orbs of Mira-3 eyes swiftly looked around at the walls, the floor, the ceiling as she dragged Rio to the center of the room, his feet dragging on the holes in the grate beneath them as she cradled him in her lap and settled into a sitting position.

"Rio..." she said anxiously, giving him a slight shake. "Rio, I need you to wake up now."

The howling, icy winds of her Super faded and Mira-3 lifted her Ace of Spades as the Fallen reformed and began to encircle them.

"C'mon, Rio." the battered Exo shook him again, eyeing the room fearfully. "Now's not the time for a nap!"

Then a sickening laughter filled the tunnel and it made Mira-3's metallic skin shiver.

Shifting the aim of her pistol towards the sound, the Exo's eyes, along with the eyes of every other Eliksni in the room, turned towards a large figure lurking in the shadows beneath an overhang at the far side of the tunnel. At first all that Mira could make out was a set of four glowing red eyes glaring at her from that dark abyss, then an armored Eliksni foot stepped out into the light and pulled the rest of the creature out with it, and the Exo balked at the sight. Perhaps she hadn't paid enough attention to the mugshot of Anaphis close enough to realize the uniqueness of the Eliksni she was now looking at, or perhaps it had never registered in her brain that a Fallen could be albino.

Like all Kell, Anaphis herself was unfathomably tall and massive in stature, but that was where all comparison ended. The alien's exposed skin, where not covered with armor and thick furs, was as white as alabaster stone and her eyes a blazing dark red. Even more alarming, Anaphis was disturbingly skinny despite her massive size, as if she were malnourished, the muscles and sinews drawn thinly over the bones beneath her skin. Something in Mira-3's brain was tried to draw up something in which to compare what she was seeing; and the best comparison she could think of was that Anaphis looked more like an albino spider-crab than any Eliksni she'd ever seen.

The skeletal Kell took a deep pull from her respirator then threw out her arms to the gathered Eliksni as she spoke in their tongue:

_"Praise! Praise be to the Darkness my brothers and sisters, for they have brought unto us a gift before our moment of triumph!"_

Anaphis voice was sharp and sinister, and Mira-3 glanced about the room nervously as the Kell gestured to them with the twisted fingers of one hand.

_"They knew how we hungered in the cold and have brought us a feast."_

Mira didn't like the hungry gaze in the Kell's eyes as the alien stared at Rio, and a soft moan escaped his lips as he stirred in his unconsciousness.

 _"Take the human, let his body and his Light fuel you to victory, my family."_ Anaphis' glittering red eyes sneered. _"But bring me the machine-mind; I have questions for it."_

A collective hiss sounded from the Eliksni horde as they started to move, a surge of panic raced through Mira-3 as she steadied her hand cannon on Anaphis and decided to try something she'd never done before.

 _"I wouldn't take that course of action if I were you, Anaphis!"_ the Exo blurted in Eliksni.

The sound of their own language coming from the Guardian was enough to stop the horde in its tracks in shock, but still the giant, Kell held up an emaciated hand to make it official. Silence descended upon the room as the aliens stared at her, and Mira-3 stared back at them in kind, the glowing orbs of her eyes darting about the room. Yet none stared at her as intensely, as Anaphis herself, the Kell's red gaze becoming like piercing daggers as if the alien were trying to look through her. For a moment, Mira-3 began to wonder if she'd said the words wrong, misspoke a conjugation-

" _You..._ " Anaphis suddenly hissed, drawing the Exo out of her thoughts. _"You are a machine-mind. You wield the powers of Stasis, the Dark. You are a Guardian, and yet...you speak our tongue...and you know of me."_

_"The Eliksni have lost a great deal; it would be a shame if your dialect were to fade into...the sunset."_ Mira spoke slowly, trying to form the right words, wanting to say 'obscurity' but couldn't quite remember the term, yet her tone was genuine. _"That aside, I make no enemy of anyone, who does not make an enemy of me first."_

The last part, a quote from an old Eliksni proverb.

Anaphis stood up a bit straighter and tilted her head as she took a long pull of ether from her respirator:

_"Who are you?"_

_"My name is Mira-3."_ the Exo lifted her chin slightly. _"And I come in..."_ she paused, the hellish orbs of her eyes shifting in their dark sockets for a moment. _"Well, I've come for a speak...talk...uhm..."_

Another wicked laugh sounded from Anaphis and Mira-3 clapped her mouth shut.

"You still have much to master in the ways of Eliksni, Mira, Third Incarnation." the Kell's red eyes flashed as she switched back to English, and the massive alien took a step closer. "But I find your effort most admirable; it is almost regrettable that you will not live long enough to further your education."

The hordes of Fallen around her chattered ominously and Rio's breathing started to grow heavy.

Mira glanced down at him and gave him another gentle shake as she whispered to him, "Stay with me, buddy, but if you're gonna die hurry it up!"

Anaphis began to circle around the left side of where Mira sat on the floor holding onto Rio, and the Exo swiftly lifted her hand cannon to follow the skeletal Kell as it traversed the floor.

"Enlighten me, Mira, Third Incarnation..." Anaphis waved a clawed hand, keeping her red eyes on the Guardian as she walked. "You who have all this power, knowledge, skill, and ability, with your Machine advancements, why do you defend this wretched human's life?"

The enormous, lithe Kell paused just to one side of Mira folding a set of hands behind her back, while templing the others, tapping the clawed fingers together as she awaited a reply.

Mira-3 paused for a moment, staring up at the monstrous alien: Murdock was right, _she was a big Kell_.

"Because," the Exo replied simply. "I'm certain that if you all ate him, you'd get sick. This man is a cesspool."

Anaphis chuckled deeply as she clapped her upper hands together, drawing another breath:

"Why yes, of course! Humanity is such filth are they not? Is this why you chose to transcend? To become a machine mind? To purify and cleanse yourself of the curse of Humanity."

Mira-3 glared into Anaphis' eyes, "I am human."

The Kell glared back, "What is that Earth-phrase you have?...Ah, 'Whatever helps you...sleep at night' ?"

"I don't slee-"

_"Because you are a machine."_

The hellish orange orbs of Mira-3's eyes glowered up at the towering Kell as the alien's red eyes sneered viciously down at her in kind. Sharply turning, causing the cape at her back to snap, the spindly Eliksni was moving again, this time circling to the right. The Hunter knew what the alien was doing, and that they were running out of time.

"Tell me about this 'triumph' that you spoke of, Anaphis." Mira-3 shifted her grip on the Ace of Spades as she watched the Kell walk and her mind started to race. "You've gathered a nice amount of explosives, weapons, and a small army. You can't be hoarding them, you'll know they'll get discovered, so what's the triumph here?"

"How keenly those burning machine eyes of yours see." Anaphis replied. "Too bad your curious gaze will go unanswered."

Mira-3 shifted from a sitting position to being crouched on one knee and foot as she held onto Rio, keeping her pistol trained on the emaciated Kell.

"Too much fire and man power for skiff raids, no, you're hitting something much bigger." Mira-3 thought out loud, her voice becoming slightly feverish as Anaphis drew closer. "You want to deal a blow to the Guardians that took out Eramis and the other Generals. But the only big target on this moon is Charon's Crossing." she shook her head. "If you attacked that it would be a massacre, so many Guardians there all the time, even with-"

"You seem so distressed, Mira, Third incarnation." Anaphis cooed, the edge of her shadow drawing near to where the Guardians huddled in the middle of the floor, the claws of her skeletal hands splayed wide. "Allow me to put you to your final rest."

"Rest? 'The Great Traitor'." Mira-3 shuddered, her glowing eyes widening as she gaped up at Anaphis. "You're planning on killing Variks!"

The Kell jerked to a halt, inhaling slowly from behind her armored mask, each glowing red eye staring down at the Exo.

"The bombs and troops are just distractions to keep any Guardians that might be lingering busy," Mira-3 continued. "While you slip in and kill Variks while he's sleeping."

Anaphis went to take a step forward and was met with a shot that nearly grazed her foot as Mira-3 fired off a round next to her armored toe, then swiftly raised the hand cannon back towards the Kell's head.

"Please don't take another step, Anaphis." the Exo said quickly. "I'd hate to leave so suddenly before you tell me I'm right."

"Right or not, there is no escape for you, Guardian!" the Kell snarled furiously as she loomed above them. "You are flanked on all sides, and the way up, is too far beyond your reach!"

"I have so enjoyed this conversation, Anaphis." a wicked grin spread across Mira-3's skull-like face. "See you on the way down."

Without taking her eyes off the Kell, Mira-3 shot the latch on the grate she and Rio were sitting on with calculated precision, and it swung out from underneath them. Anaphis released a shriek of fury and her clawed arms lashed out at them as they plummeted beyond her reach. Mira felt the wind of one claw barely graze the top of her horns as gravity took her down into the metal cavern below, and released a deep, metallic sigh.

Just like that, she was falling again...

**_[To be continued...]_ **


	8. The Crash

They say you're supposed to look before you leap, but sometimes you don't get that luxury.

Mira-3 didn't even get a chance to holster her Ace of Spades before she and Rio collided hard with something sticking out from the wall in the metal shaft. She grunted loudly as she awkwardly struck the thing, which she realized was some sort of metal sheet that had peeled away from the wall, as she and Rio tumbled down the side of it, then slipped off the edge. The Exo didn't get her bearings back before they struck something else, then gravity and momentum became God. Her body contorted sideways, the inertia jerking Rio and the hand cannon from her grasp as she twisted head over heels, and the world spun. Yet, Mira did nothing to stop her fall or save herself as she continued to plummet, painfully ping ponging off things in the dark. The idea wasn't to survive the fall; the plan was to hit the bottom of the shaft, die, resurrect, and make a run for it. So Mira let her body go limp, and down, down, down they fell.

But fate can often be cruel.

Something snagged her left ankle, yet her body kept going, and Mira shrieked as her leg was torn off at the knee. She closed her eyes, trying to pull in her limbs as she tumbled, when her arms and torso bounced off of something, the blow nearly knocking her unconscious had her arms not been up. The Exo felt her body spinning backwards. Then there was a sickening, wet thud as she finally came to an abrupt halt, all the air rushing from her body as sharp pains radiated through her entire being. Seconds later Rio's body landed nearby with a bone shattering crunch at the bottom of the shaft, and his form burst into a glowing orb of Light.

However, Mira wasn't dead.

A deep, shuddering gasp echoed from the Exo's glowing mouth as she struggled to suck in air, but something was wrong in her chest. Her body twitched and her orange eyes came into focus as she lay, no, hung there for a stunned moment in agony. How was she still alive?

The gasping became a terrible metallic wheezing as Mira tasted something foul, her arms jerking painfully as she went to look down at her body. She'd been impaled through the torso by several long, jagged metal beams of rebar, her back pressed against a thick concrete slab sitting at a slanted angle, and her remaining leg dangling above the floor. The metal was stuck in just enough places to be excruciating, but not the right places to kill her instantly.

"... _Fuck_..." Mira hacked up the word, and a gout of strange fluid.

Forcing her breathing to steady, the Exo reached up and grasped hold of a piece of rebar in her chest and one near her hip, noting that the beams were longer than her arms. Then planting her foot against the slab, she started to pull.

At first Mira-3 tried to grunt through the pain as she slid along the rebar, the metal scraping into her wounds, then she began to scream as the agony was too great, and her strength gave out. Slumping against the slab with a pitiful whimper, Mira's body went limp, and her skull-like face stared up at the top of the shaft in despair. Light radiated down from the top, a multitude of shadows danced from within, and she heard a terrible chattering. Tearing her gaze away, the orbs of her eyes searched for Rio.

In a burst of light, she watched his form reappear in front of her, whole and hale, his armor fully repaired, another Celestial Nighthawk mask on his face as he staggered on his feet, looking around to get his bearings. His bird-like head jerked two and fro taking in the bottom of the shaft, which was most likely a drain for the subway system above, littered with construction debris and snow. Freezing for a moment as his gaze landed on a smaller tunnel just ahead of him leading out, a dim light shining from without, he then glanced down at his body, checking fingers and limbs, before looking up.

"Mira?" he called out.

"I'm here, Rio."

The Hunter whirled around and balked at the sight of her, hanging impaled on the slab. Mira gazed back at him weakly reaching up to grasp hold of the metal in her chest with one hand, simply to have something to hang onto.

"Rio, there isn't much time." Mira said, her breathing slow and shallow. "I need you to listen to m-"

"Mira, don't talk!" Rio cut her off as he rushed up to her. "What the hell happened to your leg, girl? No- don't tell me, just hang on, I can fix this!"

He turned away, his face searching the floor, found something, and then he scrambled towards it.

"I lost it in the fall, genius, what do you think happened- Rio, listen!" Mira wheezed. "I'm not going to die fast enough before they get here-"

"'They'? You mean them Fallen you dropped us on? I said I got this!" Rio snapped back, as he stood up and aimed her Ace of Spades at her head. "Payback time."

Yet, the gun was warped and as he pulled the trigger, it clicked, and nothing happened.

Mira's hellish, orange eyes glowered at him viciously in the dark, "Any other bright ideas, Rat boy?"

Yanking his arm down in frustration, Rio tucked the gun into his waistband as he rushed over to her:

"Fine! We do this the hard way!"

As he went to grasp hold of her shoulder and try to pull her off the slab, Mira-3 grasped him by the collar and yanked him towards her, viciously headbutting him with her horned forehead. Rio grunted as his head jerked back, then flailed as the Exo lifted him off his feet and pulled him close to her face. The orbs of her eyes were aglow with rage and pain as she glared into the face of his mask.

"The hell are you doing, Mira?!" Rio struggled, grasping onto her wrist. "I'm trying to hel-"

"Do you hear those sounds up there, Rio Oshi-ii?!" Mira shook him as her eyes darted upward.

The chattering sound above them was growing louder, the noises unmistakably Eliksni.

Rio grew still then followed her gaze upward.

"That is the sound of an army of House Salvation coming to snuff out our Light for good!" Mira continued. "Now, you are going to run out of this tunnel as fast as you can, and send a message to the Vanguard warning them that Anaphis of House Salvation is planning to kill Variks in his sleep, while I buy you some time."

"Ana- who?! They gonna try and kill Variks?!" Rio blurted, looking back down at her. "Mira I ain't leaving you h- _AHH_!"

With an angry shout, Mira-3 hurled Rio towards the exit of the tunnel, and the Hunter sprawled onto his back on the icy floor.

"I SAID RUN!" Mira screamed at him wincing in pain from the effort, feeling more of that foul substance pouring from her jaws. "Leave me...get the message... to the Vanguard...!"

Rio jumped to his feet but looked up and stared in horror at the large number of Eliksni scrambling down the shaft in their direction. His Celestial Nighthawk mask turned to look at Mira-3, her bleeding and battered form hanging there, like a broken doll as her glowing orange eyes gazed back at him. They were the somber eyes of a person who knew they were about to die, and he hesitated.

"Please... Rio..." she whispered. "...Run..."

Rio turned on his heel and sprinted out of the tunnel, disappearing from sight.

Mira-3 rested back against the metal slab and looked up towards the top of the shaft - and the droves of Fallen swarming down it at a rapid pace.

"Murdock." She gasped.

"I'm here, Guardian." His voice sounded in her head space; it was so comforting to have it there.

Her face grimaced as she struggled to lift her hands, "When I let this go... you're... going to make a break for it..."

"I'm _not_ going anywhere, Guardian." He said firmly. "Just hold on!"

"No!" Mira shuddered as her eyes brightened in the dark. "You're not going to die with me... in this filthy pit!"

The Fallen were so close now Mira could see the glow of their eyes in the gloom of the shaft.

"Just promise... you won't forget me..."

If there was one final act she could do before her last die was cast on this godforsaken rock, Mira wanted it to be of the Light.

"Guardian, help is coming, save your strength!"

Burning Light consumed the Exo's arms and hands as she unleashed a barrage of fiery blades into the advancing Eliksni, incinerating a good number of them instantly, but it barely made a dent in their vast numbers.

"Bye, Mur...do...ck..."

The light faded from Mira's eyes as the dark sockets in her face went completely black, her arms fell to her side, and her head slumped forward onto her chest as her body grew still. Spurned on by the death of their comrades, the Fallen charged forwards with renewed vigor. Dregs and Wretches landed on the icy floor as Shanks floated overhead, all turning as they drew near to finish off the helpless Exo.

When suddenly, a bright blue light shone from the top of the shaft, and started to get brighter.

**_"YAA-YEEET!"_ **

The Eliksni barely had time to look up in confusion at the strange cry as a figure bathed in arc energy barreled through the tunnel like a rocket and slammed into the bottom of the shaft, killing all in its wake. Fallen bodies went flying as the Titan, clad in white, purple, and bronze Lucent Knight armor, the Crest of Alpha Lupi on her chest, landed thunderously in their midst. Her horned helm lifted for an instant, red visor flashing before her powerful legs flexed, and she rocketed back up the shaft in a shower of lightning. The Eliksni had no defense as the Titan gleefully shot up and down the shaft, tearing through them like a force of nature. When she finally landed back in the bottom of the shaft, there was nothing left but ashes, bits of limbs, and broken weapons.

Puffing out her chest, the Titan brushed her hands off on the purple Virtuous Mark at her hips with a satisfied sigh.

"Ahh, that never gets old."

Splaying her hand, a golden Shadow of Earth Ghost shell appeared just above her palm.

"Tink, where is Murdock? His signal should be somewhere..." then her helmet turned, spotting Mira dangling from the rebar, and she flinched at the sight. "Oh shit!"

On cue, Murdock's white and gold streaked Arch Shell burst to life near his Guardian's shoulder, his iris winking brightly at the Titan.

"Thalia!" He exclaimed. "Thank the Traveler you're here!"

The Titan jogged over to them, her Ghost floating much faster than her Guardian as she hovered near Mira's head.

"I came as soon as I heard your distress signal! By the Light," Thalia swore, shaking her head as she looked the Exo over. "Mira still doesn't know how to jump..."

"Not her fault!" Murdock's shell ground together. "Things didn't quite go as planned."

"Thalia's right! Your Guardian looks terrible!" A high pitched, girlish voice came from Thalia's Ghost as it fluttered about Mira's head. "Is she dead? Why haven't you revived her?" Then her reticle narrowed on Murdock as her voice lowered. "Are you having trouble with her like you did the last one?"

Murdock flew over and collided with Tink's shell with a loud 'tonk' noise, and Tink floated swiftly away from him.

"OW!" Tink cried out as she recoiled from him to the safety of her own Guardian.

"Hush you! You-know-we're-not-supposed-to-talk-about-that!" Murdock scolded, then looked to the Titan. "Mira has gone into shock and her systems have shut down, she's not dead yet, not dead enough anyway for me to help her, I regret to say. Could...you...?"

The visor of Thalia's Lucent Knight helm lingered on the Exo's face, "My sweet Mira, what hell did that rat bastard drag you into now..."

"Well," Tink chirped, glancing at her Guardian. "You know what you have to do."

"Yup." Thalia sighed, her massive shoulders slumping.

Pulling out a Lament blade from behind her back, the Titan revved the serrated weapon and sliced cleanly through the metal rebar like it was made of butter. Kicking the shards of metal aside, Thalia grabbed the unconscious Mira by the shoulder and yanked her free of the slab with a wet "shuck". The Titan let the Exo's body fall limply to the floor, then lifted her foot, and unceremoniously crushed Mira's skull with a sickening crunch. Her body instantly burst into a bright orb inside Murdock's shell and, within moments, reformed perfectly intact, her body and armor restored into a standing position on the floor.

Mira-3 came back to life in a state of shock.

Sucking in a deep breath of air, the Hunter's feet buckled beneath her and she stumbled forward clutching at her chest, the memories of her recent agony still fresh in her mind. Thalia rushed forward to catch her in her arms before she fell, cradling Mira to her chest as they went down to the floor. Still dazed and confused, Mira cried out in a blind panic and tried to fight off the Titan, but Thalia easily wrapped the Hunter in her cloak, bundling her up in the fabric.

"Shhh, it's alright Mira, it's okay! It's okay!" Thalia softly soothed her friend, gently rocking her back and forth in her arms. "You're safe. The pain's not real. Hush now."

"I - I was dead! I was dead." Mira gasped, her Steadfast mask gaping up at the ceiling. "I was really **dead**! So gone this time! Things - metal in my chest-!"

"No, no, no. Don't think about that." Thalia said. "Think about your cloak. You Hunters like your cloaks. They're so soft and warm."

"Yes, yes I like my cloak." Mira-3 feverishly agreed, clutching onto the fabric of her cape. "Cloaks are nice. Ohhh so nice!"

"And you love your knives, and sneaking around." Thalia continued as she kept rocking. "And dropping tethers on big bad guys. You love doing that stuff, remember?"

"Yes, I do, I love those things...my knives...my...tethers." Mira repeated, as she began to relax.

"Who's my little Hunter?"

"I'm a Hunter, I'm your... - wait." Mira perked up suddenly, shaking her head. "Why are you making me say these things?"

"My Mira is so smart and clever..." the Titan hugged her close and the Hunter winced slightly at the tight embrace. "...and adorable!"

The cycloptic lens of Mira-3's Steadfast Mask winked on and off as if she were blinking, then her head turned and looked up at the Titan.

"Thalia..." the Hunter stared at the Titan her voice now full of clarity. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?" 

The Titan's horned, Lucent Knight helm looked down at her thoughtfully:

"Murdock sent me a distress signal saying you were under attack, and of course I came charging in, fists blazing, as fast as I could." Thalia explained. "And I'm loving this new armor on you by the way, makes you look nice."

Mira-3 flinched as she felt the Titan's hand firmly grasp her butt.

"You been working out?" Thalia said seductively as she leaned in closer to Mira's face.

A groan sounded from the Exo as she looked up at the Titan. 

Mira was starting to think she should have stayed dead....

**_[To be continued...]_ **


	9. Unlikely Fire Team

While the warm embrace of Mira-3's Titan friend at the bottom of the icy drainage shaft deep within the depths of Europa was comforting, the hand groping her rear-end wasn't so comforting.

"Thalia, we don't have time for this!" The Exo Hunter squirmed, trying to break free of the Titan's arms.

"Hm-hmmm.” The Titan cooed pulling the Hunter closer. “I love it when you play hard to get."

"Stop it!" Mira hissed, struggling harder as she tried to push Thalia away. "House Salvation is on its way to kill Variks and Rio has my Ace!"

"What!" A dark light flashed across the red visor of Thalia's Lucent Knight helm, like someone flipping a switch in her brain. 

Mira mewled in slight alarm as Thalia suddenly grasped her by the shoulders and stared into the glowing lens of her Holdfast Mask; the Exo always seemed to forget how strong the Titan was. 

"Rio left you to die at the hands of House Salvation _and_ he stole your favorite gun?!" Thalia roared, letting out a snarl as she looked up at the drain's exit. "I'm going to wring that rat's scrawny neck!"

"Technically _not_ stealing and leaving me to die, because I told him to run for it." Mira nervously corrected, waving her hands. "Besides, you mean you didn't notice that the insignias on the Fallen that you obliterated before you Thundercrashed them to nothingness, were from House Salvation?" Mira queried, holding up a finger. 

Thalia relaxed a bit as she thought for a moment, then replied, "No...I see the bad things and then I murder them. Is this a pop quiz or something?"

The Titan peered into the Hunter's mask as if searching for the answer.

"Could you let go of me please now, Thalia?" Mira's head tilted, the horns of her white Empyrean hood leaning at a jaunty angle. 

"But I like holding you." Thalia tilted her head in the same direction. 

Mira let out a frustrated sigh as she shifted around in a pocket and then held up a data slate in front of the Titan's face, turning it on. 

"Did you happen to see this really big Kell before you came thundering down here to save me?"

Instantly letting go of the Hunter's shoulders to grasp the data slate with her hands, Thalia stood up and wandered over towards the exit tunnel where the light was better so she could see. Mira-3 let out a sigh of relief as she finally got to her feet, brushing off her white, black, and gold accented Crystocrene armor, and rubbing her butt where the Titan's hand had been. Adjusting her cloak and hood, the Hunter was inwardly thankful at how easily the Titan could be distracted. Thalia meanwhile, stood there in her white, purple, and copper Lucent Knight armor inspecting the image on the data slate, the dim light glinting nicely off her Crest of Alpha Lupi chest piece. Finally she turned around to face Mira and tossed the data slate over her shoulder. 

"Nope, didn't see him."

Mira lunged frantically, diving for the data slate, barely able to catch it as she slid to a halt on her side, then let out a growl as she whirled on Thalia. 

"That Kell is a _she_ and her name is Anaphis." Mira corrected as she got back to her feet, pocketing the data slate. 

"Eh, they all look and smash the same." Thalia waved a hand dismissively, placing her hands on her large hips. "What's this Ana-puppets Kell have to do with all this?"

Mira glowered behind her mask at her friend's xenophobic and sexist comment. 

"Besides the fact that she was going to feed Rio to her army, she's planning on leading House Salvation in an attack to kill Variks." Mira glared at Thalia before opening her palm and summoning her Ghost into it. "Murdock, I'm in need of weaponry."

"Oh I like her already!" The grin was apparent in the Titan's voice as she reached up and tapped the chin of her horned helmet. "You know that's an idea… we take Rio, stuff his body full of all kinds of poisons and then feed him to a starving horde of Fallen."

Mira released another frustrated noise. 

"Your usual load out, Guardian?" The iris of Murdock's Arch Shell looked up at her inquisitively. 

"The Heavy Hitter one, if you please, Murdock."

"And what shall I replace your Ace with, Guardian?"

Mira paused for a long moment thinking hard.

_Use this gift… and lay a thorn upon their graves._

"Bring out my recent gift, Murdock." The lens of Mira-3's mask eyed him carefully. 

The Ghost's iris blinked up at her as his shell twitched nervously, then he nodded, "As you wish, Guardian."

Feeling the weight of her Falling Guillotine, and a Deafening Whisper grenade launcher form behind her back, Mira drew in a short breath as she felt the holster at her hip grow heavy with the Thorn Handcannon. For a moment, the Exo thought she heard something whispering in her ear but brushed it off. Tucking Murdock safely into the folds of her cowl, the Hunter reached for the grenade launcher, and movement out of the corner of her eye made her glance over. Thalia pulled out a large Seraph shotgun and the Titan racked it loudly. 

“Let’s go, I don’t know how much time we have.” Mira turned and started walking for the exit, her cape fluttering behind her. 

“I always get excited when you bring out the big toys, Mira.” Thalia hefted her shotgun, then the excitement faded from her voice as she fell into step beside the smaller Exo. “But I dunno what the rush is...any assault on Variks would be a suicide mission with all the Guardians at Charon’s Crossing. Those Fallen are just walking into a death trap.”

Mira stepped out of the drain shaft and into what looked like a natural cavern of ice, only slight bits of rock showing from the walls, and light coming from the far end of the winding tunnels; her mask glanced down and saw Rio’s tracks in the crusted frost. 

“There won’t be hardly any there when Variks is sleeping, and that’s when they’re going to strike.” Mira explained as she began to follow the tracks.

“Ohh, that’s- that’s devious!” Thalia noted, stooping to get out of the drainage shaft and into the cavern. 

They jogged through a short passageway then Mira paused at a junction in the winding ice tunnels to check where Rio’s tracks led and the large Titan trotted up behind her.

“Did that Ana-Kell tell you that was her plan or did you use your Hunter mind-voodoo on her?” Thalia asked.

“I figured it out.” Mira replied, somewhat smugly seeing the tracks veer off towards the left cavern, and where the light was brightest. "And then I did my voodoo on her."

“Yea! That’s my girl!” Thalia exclaimed giving Mira a sharp slap on the rear.

The Hunter flinched, stifling a cry, then she whirled around and carved into the Titan’s hand with a burning blade.

“HOT! SHARP! OWWW!” Thalia shrieked, her shotgun clattering to the floor, while waving her hand as it smoked and sizzled, dancing away from her companion. “Shi- OOooooowwww!!”

The Titan flinched and froze in place as the tip of the knife was suddenly pointed at her chin, and looking down, Thalia could almost visualize Mira-3’s angry face beneath the cycloptic lens of the Steadfast Mask glaring up at her.

“Stop. _That!_ ” the Exo hissed with vehemence. “What have I told you about consent and time and place!”

Holding her hands up sheepishly, the one still bleeding slightly despite the wound being partially cauterized, the Titan’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

“I know, I know, Mira, I’m sorry.” Thalia sighed. “But...Mira, I've missed you." Thalia paused as she searched for the right words. "Ever since your reset you've just been… gone from my life. I've been doing my best to give you all the time and space you need, but just knowing that rat Rio has been spending so much time with you- manipulating you...” a hint of jealousy crept into the Titan’s voice. “You're too good for him, Mira! And I've just felt... empty without you..."

A terrible pang of emotions struck Mira's heart, and behind her mask, her anger melted away to nothing. 

“Thalia I’m not dating, Rio, and- ” Mira exhaled as she pulled the knife away and tossed it over her shoulder where it vanished into thin air. “I’ve just been busy with... things."

The Hunter's own shoulders fell as guilt consumed her. 

_How do you tell someone that loves you that you've essentially been doing the Exo equivalent to Deathwalking?_

"Tell you what," Mira looked back up at Thalia, casting aside her dark thoughts. "We’ll go...Hive smashing or something after all this is over, okay? Just the two of us. Just, stop with the grabby hands, alright?”

Thalia’s Ghost burst into existence in a spark of Light over her shoulder and shined a beam of light onto her hand as it began to heal her, the Titan looking down at the Hunter thoughtfully as she lowered her arms.

“Only if you promise not to disappear on me after."

"Deal." Mira nodded. "Now let's go find the Rat before the Fallen do."

Stooping to pick up her shotgun, the Titan stepped forward, "Lead on. You know I love a good chase!"

Turning back around, Mira-3 raced through the icy side tunnel and Thalia charged after her. Keeping the glowing lens of her mask on the tracks in the crusted ice, it didn't take the Hunter long to track down Rio Oshi-ii. The light in the tunnel began to brighten as the elevation lifted and the pair spotted an opening at the end of the winding tunnel, leading out to the frigid surface of Europa. Wind howled through the cavernous exit carrying swirling snow with it, and as the Guardians barreled out of the tunnel onto a snowy platform, Mira spotted Rio.

He was pinned to the ground being strangled to death beneath an Eliksni Captain of House Salvation that looked like it had seen better days. 

Mira's reaction was instinctual, the ripple of something cold coiling up from inside her, spreading along her arm as it shot forward. The sickle of ice left her fingers and pierced into the Captain's side, turning him into a frozen statue. Before her arm fell, Thalia charged forward and smashed the Eliksni to pieces in a shower of sparks and ice. 

Rio sucked in air behind his Celestial Nighthawk helm like an engine compressor coming back to life, his body jerking with the effort before falling into a ragged fit of coughing. His gloved hands reached up to rub his throat beneath the torn fur lining of his crimson cloak as he rolled over onto his side to catch his breath. As he moved, Mira-3 noticed that his right leg was broken, the limb twisted unnaturally, and his torso was bleeding. Thalia stepped away from him as Rio's Ghost Selena appeared in a burst of light and began radiating waves of Light over her Guardian to heal him. 

"I thank the Traveler you two arrived- and that you still live Mira-3." Selena's regal voice noted as she worked, the folds of her shell twisting as she hovered too and fro. "My Guardian was not prepared for the contingent of Fallen guarding this exit."

Glancing around, the Hunter and the Titan noted an alarming number of dead and bleeding Fallen corpses scattered about, slowly being buried by the snow. 

"Looks like Rio almost had it, until the Captain got his hands on him." Mira said. 

Thalia snorted disdainfully, "You give this rat too much credit."

"I'd like to see your fat ass take on all these guys with no weapons and hardly any abilities." Rio huffed up at the Titan as he shuffled to his feet, letting out a groan as he stretched his neck. "That Fallen choked me like I insulted his mother…" 

"That's the great thing about being a Titan, I don't need weapons when I've got my fists. Besides..." Thalia stepped forward and loomed over Rio, staring him down. "You're talking an awful lotta trash for someone in punching distance."

Rio glared up into Thalia's helmet, light flashing in the eyes of his Celestial Nighthawk mask, and his Ghost instantly vanished from sight. Fearing violence between the two, Mira-3 rushed over and pushed the two away from each other. The last thing she needed were both of them tearing each other apart. 

"Break it up!" The Exo snapped. "You save this for the Crucible, right now we have to stop House Salvation, and we can't do that if you two are acting like animals!"

The glowing lens of her mask shot accusingly between the two of them before she lowered her arms and focused on Rio.

"Were you able to get a message out to the Vanguard, Rio?"

"What do you think?!" Rio shot back, turning away from her as he tore the tattered cloak off his shoulders and tossed it into the snow. "And even if I did, we don't need that big, blue babysitter to deal with this."

Thalia balked at him from where she stood:

"Wait- so you were going to leave Mira to perma-death in that hole, not alert the Vanguard, and just scurry back off to the safety of Spider's lair?" The Titan cracked her knuckles. "I'm going to enjoy smashing your skull in!"

Mira-3 threw out a hand to block the advancing Titan, her cape snapping sharply with the motion as she kept her gaze focused on Rio.

"We have to alert the Vanguard so they can save Variks and thwart the attack, Rio." The Exo stated flatly, lowering her arm. "But as always you must have another plan…"

"Damn right I do." Rio replied summoning a replacement cape and pulling the hood over his head as he turned to face them. "We're going to Charon's Crossing and send out a planet wide transmission telling everyone about the attack. Every Guardian will be on alert, Variks can deal with it how he likes, and the Vanguard will eventually find out through some other Zavala loyalist. House Salvation won't try to take out Variks, and crawl back under the rock they crawled out of, then we can get off this frozen hell planet!"

A moment of silence passed between the three Guardians as the wind and snow swirled around them. The glowing lens of Mira-3's mask drifted away from Rio and across the snow, spotting something familiar sticking up out of the powdery white surface. With graceful movements, the Exo silently wandered over, stooped, and gently lifted the object from the snow. The black and golden Ace of Spades, warped and twisted, was ice cold in Mira's hand, and the Exo gazed at the broken weapon with a heavy heart. 

As if sensing her thoughts, Murdock peeked out from the folds of her cowl and projected a beam of light over the weapon, transmatting it away from her grasp. The Ghost retreated back into the warmth and safety of her cloak as the Hunter lowered her hand. Her fingertips grazed the stock of the Thorn at her hip and the wind kicked up rustling the cape around her body; and her head tilted ever so slightly. 

_Is that the wind or was that… whispering, again?_

Turning to face her companions, Mira spoke:

"You're right, Rio, telling the Vanguard what's going on is a bad idea."

"What?!" Thalia blurted, the Titan taking a step forward. "Mira, you can't be serious!"

"Looks like you're taking an 'L' on this one Titan." Rio leered at her. 

"But sending out a planet wide transmission is also a stupid idea." Mira continued. 

"Excuse me?" Rio whirled on her. 

"If Anaphis gets wind that anyone is wise to her plans to kill Variks, she'll call off the attack and go into hiding." The Hunter pulled her cloak tightly around her as she began walking forward. "We can't afford to let this Kell grow any more powerful than she already is."

Rio watched her incredulously, folding his arms across his chest, "This Kell ain't no Eramis, yet you talk like she's some big threat, Mira."

"She was willing to let the Eliksni of her House eat you, Rio, in the hopes of gaining power from your Light." Mira stated grimly as she strode past him. "Anaphis is cunning and ambitious enough to become the next Eramis if she isn't destroyed."

Thalia shot Rio a knowing glance and began to follow silently after Mira. 

Rio's arms fell in shock then he reluctantly began to follow the pair across the snow:

"Okay now that makes it personal, and I can certainly understand the appeal of wanting the bragging rights for taking out this Kell, but uhmm… you sure you really wanna do this Mira?"

Thalia shot Rio a look, "You act like Mira hasn't eaten other Kells or worse for breakfast before."

"Hush I ain't talking about that!" Rio snapped, glaring at the Titan.

"Then what the hell would Mira have to be unsure about?" Thalia snapped back. 

"It's Variks." 

The soulless tone to Mira's voice caused Rio and Thalia to halt midstep as their Hunter friend took a few steps away from them into the snow, then paused. The Exo kept her gaze forward and her back to them as she stared out at the frozen tundra that seemed to stretch on into a frozen rose pink sky. The wind kicked up again carrying with it a myriad of sounds just on the edge of one's hearing, like ancient memories crying out to be remembered. 

"If Variks were to die by anyone's hand," Mira-3 said. "I would want it to be mine."

**_[To be continued…]_ **

  
  
  



End file.
